~Santa's Little Bloggers~ Wine {Or Beer!} Cork Rudolph Ornament

It is no secret.  I am not the crafty blogger.  I am a cook and a baker, but not so much a crafter.  But if I keep going at the rate that I am going, I may have to add novice crafter to my list of talents. ;)  Although I am pretty sure you will never see seamstress or knitter on my blogging talent credits...  

I will be honest.  I pinned the idea for this ornament LAST holiday season. (CLICK HERE to gaze upon my inspiration.) I thought that I would have made them last Christmas for friends and relatives, but realized very quickly after making homemade cookie mixes and cinnamon hot chocolate mixes in Mason jars that I was running out of time and energy. (I may have been about 7 months pregnant with baby girl around this time last year. ;) )

In October, I signed up to participate in an Ornament Swap hosted by Tutus and Tea Parties.  I knew I would have to break out this ornament idea as it was a handmade ornament swap.  Hey, I have been kicking back bottles of wine and saving the corks since baby girl was born just to do this. ;) (Okay, not really.  But I have saved a decent amount of wine and beer corks over the past 2 years.)

What you will need:

Wine or beer corks (two per ornament)

Twigs, some with forks

Hot glue gun & glue sticks

Little red poms-poms from the craft store (I went all out & bought the sparkly ones. ;) )

Twine (I picked up this candy cane striped twine in the dollar section at Target)

Any other little embellishments you would like to add

A little screwdriver (I used one from one of those eyeglass kits. You could also use a small nail.)

Box cutters (possibly)

Kitchen scissors or wire cutters

Using your screwdriver or nail, gouge 4 holes into one of the corks for the legs.  Flip over and gouge another hole to fit the twig that will be the reindeer's neck.  Cut 4 legs from your twigs using your scissors or wire cutters.  Make sure the twigs will fit in the holes you have made in the cork.  If not, then gouge your holes a little larger.  Squeeze a little hot glue onto the ends of your legs (twigs) and press them into your holes.  Let it set for a few minutes.

While your reindeer's body and legs are setting, start on Rudolph's head. You will want to use a shorter cork for the head.  Lindeman's corks are perfect for this.  If you don't have a shorter cork, just cut a little off of the length of a normal sized cork with your box cutters. On the top of the cork towards the back, gouge two holes for the antlers.  Then flip over and gouge one hole to connect the neck (twig) with.  Cut two forked twigs (similar to what is pictured above) to serve as the antlers.  Just like you did for the legs, apply a little hot glue too the bottoms of each of the antlers and press them into the holes in the top of the cork.

Let the antlers set up.  In the meantime, cut another twig for the neck.  Apply a little hot glue to one end and then press into the hole in the body of the reindeer.  Let set for a minute.  Then apply glue to the top end and fix your antlered deer head on top of the twig.  Set your reindeer aside for a few minutes.

Once your reindeer is dry and set, it is time to make him into Rudolph! :)  Take your red pom-pom, apply a little hot glue to one side and press onto the nose (end of the cork head).  Next cut a piece of twine and tie into a circle with a double knot.  Cut off any extra twine.  Place the circle of twine around Rudolph's neck.  Take another piece of twine and tie into a double knot bow around the circle of twine and the reindeer's neck.  This makes a pretty embellishment for the ornament and holds the twine you will hang the ornament by in place.

And there you go!  A handmade Wine Cork Rudolph Ornament! This little guy would be perfect tied to the neck of a bottle of wine for a hostess gift, don't you think? ;)

This ornament tutorial is the first post in the Santa's Little Bloggers series I will be hosting on my blog through Christmas.  Bloggers from all over the blogosphere will be stopping over to share some of their favorite handmade gifts and homemade treats.  Check back often at my Santa's Little Bloggers Page  for new gift making tutorials! :)